Posted on 10/14/2016 4:55:41 AM PDT by John David Powell
Every day now, it seems, folks tell me how sick they are of this presidential campaign and how they cannot wait for it to be over. One friend said the constant news coverage has caused her to lose sleep and go into depression. Her husband, she said, told her to turn off the television and stay away from Facebook. Easier said than done.
I replied that her husband may be right, that it might be in her best interest to avoid news coverage and Facebook posts (except mine!). And, I gave her an additional suggestion, which is to know why our selection for president may not be as important as it seems.
Here's what I mean. We do not elect dictators. In fact, we do not even elect presidents. We elect electors, which is a whole ‘nuther subject (and one we need to change). When we pull the lever or make our mark, our vote is not so much about the president, but about the individuals who will advise the president. We should not ask ourselves which candidate we support, but which party we believe has the people we feel will shape policies and help craft legislation that more closely aligns with our beliefs, our wants, our needs.
That leads to the next consideration—the individuals we elect "down ballot." Members of the Senate and House who pass the laws. Civics lesson: the president sends a budget proposal to Congress, which goes to House and Senate budget committees. Chances are good that each chamber will approve its own version. That is when a conference committee tries to reach an agreement. In other words, Congress passes legislation the president either signs or vetoes.
Ah, but the Supreme Court will determine the constitutionality of those laws. Yes. And we need a president who will appoint justices who agree with us. Yes. And no. The president nominates. The Senate's role is to advise and consent. So, here again, the folks elected to the Senate become equally as important, if not more so, than the person we chose for president. Right now, we have a Democratic president and a Republican-controlled Senate, which is why Obama's SCOTUS nomination gathers dust.
We also need to concentrate on the local level, because (and you have heard this before) all politics is local. City council members, mayors, county commissioners, state legislators, governors. This is where it really matters to us as individual voters. We really do not have that much say about what goes on out there in DC. Our member of Congress is one of 435. Our Senators are two of 100. But our city council member is our neighbor. We go to church with the mayor. We are friends with the school board representative.
Will turning off the news or refusing to read my wonderful Facebook and Twitter posts fix things? No. But understanding that this, too, will pass may help. Our Muslim friends say inshallah, if God wills it. Christians say the same thing. I advised my friend to remember that, and, in the meantime, to do what she can on the local level, because that is where we have the most influence.
The conventional wisdom at my Sparky's Diner breakfast table this week is that few true undecided voters remain in the presidential election, which means the gutter politics from both camps do nothing to bolster their candidates, but instead serve only to enrage the partisans and depress the rest of us.
A Rasmussen poll today seems to support this. The poll shows 76 percent of Democrats support Hillary Clinton, while 75 percent of Republicans support Donald Trump. Clinton takes 13 percent of GOP support with Trump claiming 15 percent of Democrats. But among voters not affiliated with either party Trump trumps Clinton by double digits.
There is now a growing concern, or realization, among the Trump haters from both parties that silent supporters will deliver a November Surprise. These are folks who refuse to tell anyone they will vote for Trump because they fear ridicule, repercussions, social-media flaming, and other forms of backlash from friends, neighbors, and relatives. These people do not respond to pollsters, they do not post on Facebook, they do not plant yard signs or display bumper stickers. But they share two things. They share a dislike of the media and a dislike of those they consider Washington insiders. So, when the media jump all over Trump for his failures and ignore decades of Clinton shenanigans, they just factor it in (rightly or wrongly) as more ravings from the alt-Left. When GOP so-called leaders say they will not support Trump, these folks could care less because they consider those politicians to be among the Washington insiders they would prefer to be outsiders.
Now regarding the devil we know and the devil we know in terms of Clinton and Trump. I told my mother-in-law over the weekend that we have never elected a president based on character.
George W. Bush had a major drinking problem. All three Kennedy brothers had unsavory histories with women. In fact, dead women were a common denominator. LBJ got us into a war some veterans are still fighting within themselves. FDR died in the company of his mistress. Obama smoked weed as a teenager.
The crimes of the Clintons have been factored into the election. The personal failings of Trump have also been factored in. The reason millions of our fellow citizens are so angry and depressed is not so much because of Clinton and Trump, but because of the 24/7 news cycle and social media who act like junior-high instigators who keep trying to get the two toughest guys in school to fight during lunch.
They are also angry and fed up with double standards, tired of being baited, harassed, threatened, and the subject of ugly Facebook comments from individuals who do not see the irony in their actions.
Legend says Robert Johnson became music’s greatest bluesman after he went down to the crossroads and made a deal with the devil. Over the next few weeks, Americans will make their own trek to the crossroads, the voting booths, to make their deal with whatever devil they can live with. The only sure thing right now is that when dawn breaks on Nov. 9, about half of America will be singing the blues.
Dream on, JD.
Stopped reading at “one we need to change”. With all due respect, bull crappie. We need to restore the constitution in its entirety, as the founders handed it to us. Throw out your BS. Feel free to quote the restore sentence as often as needed.
Bullshit artile by an obvious ass. What the hell makes this damn fool think thr cowards in Congress buck Hillary anymore than Obama. Poster is a troll and author is moronic.
Great song...”I went down to the crossroads...”
I dunno. I think about 98% truth here.
In these last weeks we get so screwed down and tightly focused on each minute gear in the wheels of time that we forget to simply lift our heads up and look at the face of the clock.
What real, great Truths do we know? What facts exists right now that will push events in the near and not so near future?
Just yesterday, almost unanimously, FReepers posted the GOP is dead to us. Arguably, perhaps, but IMHO, WE HAVE BEEN THE HEART OF THE TEA PARTY and the base of the GOP. That being the case I would be inclined to take us at our word. The GOP is dead.
Look across the aisle. Hillary can’t draw a crowd. There is only manufactured outrage posing as enthusiasm for Rats. The Rats have turned their party into a criminal racket only the corrupt can abide. I would say that the party of the libtards is pretty much dead. Lots of money, little public support.
While it might be romantic to daydream about “Saving the Republic” by storming the Bastille or whatever, the gummint has put massive resources into position to protect itself from this threat. It would be very messy business. Only about three percent of us are physically, intellectually, and emotionally prepared to do this. Let me put this in the “highly improbable” category.
Obama thinks we need to discuss a future of Useless Eaters. Fine. Let’s do. There are, IMHO, to kinds of people who get paid to do nothing. Let’s call one Useless Eaters and we can dismiss them out of hand because, for a number of reasons, they have no future. There will never be significant numbers of useless eaters for an extended period. The Rats have breed millions of voters but in the face of a dead GOP they are now useless eaters.
The other knd of people who get paid to do nothing for hours and hours even unto days and weeks are SOLDIERS. Ask anyone who has ever been one. We have on our hands huge numbers of “visitors” many of whom we are currently paying to do nothing more than reproduce who are very fluent in the languages and cultures of some of the countries housing the world’s least defended, wealthiest people.
I don’t pretend to be a Prophet, but when I look down the road a piece I see some interesting things coming....
This does not qualify as news....or activism
IF Trump is not elected America is done
My hubby is one of them. He won’t even turn on the news any more except for the weather report.
I come to FR and read and learn. And repost on my FB. TOUGH COOKIES, don’t like it unfriend me. Just as I block all hill’s shills.
Which is more dangerous to your children’s future?
A career politician with a prove track record of corruption and lawlessness who, as the darling of the US Political Media, will be able to continue her history of thumbing her nose at any attempt to check and balance her power. That is assuming a cowardly professionalized political Congress or Judiciary would ever want, or be willing, to try and restrain her.
A crude, lewd, bombastic businessman, who career has demonstrated a respect for the rule of law, and whose power would be balanced by a hostile media and a suspicious Congress/Judiciary?
I think this guy’s been smokin his breakfast.
I have been a Republican all my life. I have supported Republican nominees wholeheartedly, even ones I felt were too liberal.
At this point, I din’t give a damn about them or “their” congress.
Under the leadership of John Boehner, his anointed successor Paul Ryan and the Senate under Mitch McConnell, the worst President in American history - racist, a marxist, and a man who despises western civilization - has been FREE to implement his destructive agenda, UNIMPEDED.
CONGRESS has an APPROVAL rating of 14% while Obama’s has been fairly stable at 60%.
14 MILLION REPUBLICANS voted for Mr. Trump in the primaries.
Despite all this, Paul Ryan has the EFFRONTERY and GALL to attack Trump, give substance to unverified accusations and try everything POSSIBLE to undercut OUR party’s choice!
God damn the GOP Establishment. THEIR chickens have come to roost! Paul Ryan needs to go and his cronies need to go.
If the GOP died tomorrow, it would a cause for rejoicing. Maybe then, a NEW political party woukd arise with the bavkbone, brains and testicles to defeat the Marxists in the Democrat party!
I want Paul Ryan OUT of the Speakership, OUT of CONGRESS AND OUT of our lives!!!!!
They are trying to cover it up because it failed but Ryan, Romney, some others, tried to pull a coup. Three weeks before the election. It would seem that for the moment they are covering it up but this has to be dealt with. If the traitors are identified after the election and purged, fine we can consider a new start but if the traitors are allowed to go unmolested then the GOP can find new voters.
I agree with purging the traitors. Bu I think if they knew about these stories before tgecelection, they would have used them. The fac t is they didn’t khow them as they are substatively false and GOP politicians, despite their faults, for the most part, are incapable of crafting such a scheme. The Dems do it all the time: Anita Hill, Herman Cain’s accusers, etc., etc.
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